Monday, August 03, 2015

The Indian government had had a ceasefire agreement with Myanmarese Naga
rebel leader S S Khaplang since 2001. He heads a faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN(K) which is active in at least three
states in Northeast India. After years of stalemate, both sides thought it
prudent to suspend operations and explore the possibility of a negotiated
settlement. But even after 14 years, there was precious little that was
achieved through talks except the annual ritual of the ceasefire extension.

On 27 March 2015, two senior representatives of NSCN(K) -- Wangtin Naga and
P Tikhak --emerged from a meeting near Dimapur in Nagaland with a sense of
unease. Their conversation with government officials was serious and it focused
on the renewal of the ceasefire between the two sides.

The duo were told in no
uncertain terms about New Delhi's unhappiness over the conduct of their chief
who had not only firmed up an alliance with separatist insurgent outfits from
Assam and Manipur but also allowed them to set up camps and training facilities
in the Naga-inhabited areas in Myanmar's Sagaing Division.

The
delegates were trying to find a middle ground and they reiterated their
commitment to peace and negotiated settlement. But Khaplang would not budge an
inch and he responded with a statement reiterating his resolve to fight for the
independence of India's Northeast and the Naga-inhabited areas in Myanmar.

The Naga
militant outfits — Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
— had decided to abrogate the ongoing ceasefire agreement with the Government
of India, leading to another split in the outfit.

The developments became
evident after two leaders of the outfit, Y Wangtin Naga and P Tikhak announced that they were going to form a new outfit. and the two representatives
who apparently enjoyed a close rapport with the chief were soon expelled from
the organization.

This was the third instance when senior leaders based in
Nagaland had parted ways from the chief following differences. Earlier, two
leaders, general secretary, Kitovi Zhimoni; and commander-in-chief, Khole
Konyak split and had formed the NSCN(GPRN) were expelled on the grounds of
"anti-party activities."

"There were massacres
in the aftermath of the Shillong Accord in 1975 and when the NSCN was divided
in 1988. Will this incident engender another round of bloody clashes in
Nagaland as has happened whenever outfits have split earlier or made an accord?"

For the uninitiated, insurgency in Nagaland began in 1947 when the Naga
National Council (NNC) raised the banner of revolt and demanded independence.
NNC was sidelined after the formation of the NSCN in 1980 which was also
brought a section of Myanmarese Nagas headed by Khaplang into the organisation.
But NSCN was divided eight years later into the Khaplang and Isak-Muivah
factions.

In 1997, ceasefire was declared between the government and the
Isak-Muivah group and dialogue initiated for a negotiated settlement. Five
years later, Khaplang followed suit by declaring cessation of hostilities with
the government which led to an agreement. But unlike NSCN(IM), New Delhi has
not engaged Khaplang in a dialogue since he is based in Myanmar.

The separatist organization NSCN
(IM) of Nagaland and the central government in New Delhi on Monday evening have
signed a historical peace accord. The accord was signed betweenboth the parties at 7 RCR. PM, Narendra Modi,
NSCN (IM) founder member, Isak-Muivah; BJP president, Amit Shah;Union Home Minister, Raj Nath Singh and
Defence Minister, Manohar Parikar were present during the signature of the
accord. This faction since long was demanding ‘Greater Nagaland'.

PM expressed gratitude to the
leaders of NSCN for the accord and said, 'Thanks'. He added, ‘Illusion
propaganda was spreaded there against the country’.